Halliwell on top at B.C. Championships

Whistler club earns medals, ribbons against top tumblers in the province

Whistler’s Nicola Halliwell knew she was having a good day at
the B.C. Gymnastics Championships, but was shocked to discover that her results
— second on bars, third on beam, fourth on vault and 10
th
on
floor — were good enough to place first all around in the Provincial Level 2
Open category.

Although Halliwell has earned her share of medals in the past,
and is regarded as hard working and consistent by her coaches, she said she was
surprised to hear her name called at the medal ceremony.

“I kind of new what my scores were, but I definitely wasn’t
expecting that,” she said. “I didn’t think I won, I was just trying to do my
best.”

Competing mostly in regional competitions, she was interested
to see other girls from around the province. “They were different, from a lot
of different places, and they were definitely doing some harder skills. That’s
why I was so surprised.”

But while some of the other kids had harder tricks, Nicola had
consistency on her side. Girls winning the gold in one event were finding
themselves in the teens in others.

Whistler has always been an underdog in gymnastics. Because the
club doesn’t have a full-time facility yet, with coaches setting up and taking
down equipment four nights a week, gymnasts have fewer days available to train,
and fewer hours of training. They also don’t have a full-size spring floor to
train on their floor exercises, or equipment like tumble tracks and foam pits
to safely develop their skills.

Nicola’s father Dave Halliwell is heading up Whistler
Gymnastics facility committee, and says things are progressing at the athletes’
village site. It will be 6,000 square feet in size, with a full spring floor,
tumble track, foam pits, and space for trampoline training. The Resort
Municipality of Whistler has budgeted $2 million for the project, while the
club will be fundraising and applying for grants to equip the gym.

“The governance model is still being worked out, but it is our
intention to run the (gymnastics) club as an independent entity in that
building,” he said.

Dave believes that a full time facility will make it possible
for other girls to win provincial championships in the future. “I think when
people can do the work they can get the results, and this will let people do
more work more effectively to get those results.”

As for his own daughter’s accomplishments in Kamloops, he
couldn’t be happier.